Jan 24, 2021
Today’s reading follows immediately after the short accounts of
Jesus’ baptism and temptations in the desert that Mark gives. It is
the beginning of his public ministry. The reading consists of two
main parts – a summary of Jesus’ teaching and the first response to
it.
As the passage opens we are told that John has been arrested. So
Jesus begins his ministry by proclaiming the Gospel, the Good News,
of God. It is summed up in the words: “The time (kairos) has come
and the Kingdom is close at hand. Repent and believe in the Good
News.” It is so simple a statement but is rich in meaning. One can
say that the whole of the Gospel message is contained in those two
sentences.
We may comment on the following words: kairos, kingdom, repent
believe in.
The time of fulfilment: this is a translation of the Greek word
kairos (kairos). Kairos refers to a moment when something is ripe
to happen, it is the lucky moment. And that exactly describes the
appearance of Jesus, an appearance which the whole of the Old
Covenant has been preparing and waiting for and leading up to.
The Kingdom of God is at hand: The whole of Jesus’ message centres
round the idea of the ‘Kingdom of God’. It was the coming of that
Kingdom which he proclaimed; it was the core of his teaching.
Kingdom here does not refer to a place. It points to the ruling
power of God, a power based above all on love. Wherever the love of
God prevails in our world we can say that the Kingdom is there.
Love essentially involves other people so the Kingdom is not a
place or an action but harmonious and interacting relationships.
Jesus came to call every single person to belong to such a world.
It is the reign of God.
Repent…: Here we have the basic steps needed to become fully a
Kingdom person. First, we need to repent. ‘Repent’ means for most
people being sorry for something done in the past. That is not
excluded here but it really means a radical change in one’s
thinking, in this case, about the meaning and purpose of life and
how that life is to be lived. Jesus is calling for a radical
conversion and to embrace his vision of life.
…and believe in the Gospel: And how is this radical change to be
achieved? By believing in the Gospel. For many Christians, belief
means the total acceptance of the teachings of Christ as
interpreted for us by the Church. But something more is asked of us
here. We are asked not just to believe but to believe IN. It is one
thing to believe something but it may not affect our lives very
much. But to believe IN the message that the Gospel brings, we are
asked for a total investment, immersion of ourselves and not just
in accepting as doctrines. We are called to live our lives and
pattern it after the model of Jesus himself.
The second part of the reading gives us a dramatic example of some
people who did just what Jesus was asking for. The calling of his
first disciples. Jesus said to them: “Come after me and I will make
you fishers of people.” There and then, they dropped their nets,
their whole means of livelihood and went after Jesus. The emphasis
here is the total commitment to the Way and vision of Jesus which
is symbolised by the total abandoning of the boats and family
members. Here we have that radical change of life, taking place.
They follow Jesus with total trust. As they go off, they have no
idea where they are going or what it will entail. They believe IN
Jesus, put all their trust in him. They were to meet many trials
and tribulations on the way but they never regretted the step they
took. Only by following their example will we too have the same
experience. The only guarantee we have is that those who did take
Jesus’ call seriously and lived it out to the full know that they
made the right choice.
To be a true follower of Jesus I need the radical change in me and
it has to occur constantly. Lord help me to follow you everyday
believing IN your words that only it has the power to grant me
eternal life. Amen.